Ryan Blaney overcomes cool suit failure to secure third-place finish at Pocono

Several things went wrong for Ryan Blaney during Sunday’s Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway. He was among the seven drivers who dropped to the back of the field ahead of the green flag due to unapproved starter adjustments on his Penske Mustang.

Furthermore, Blaney suffered from a cool suit malfunction early on in the race. The day was especially hot, with temperatures averaging mid to upper 90s (Fahrenheit). That was a lot to deal with in the first place.

But despite the setbacks, Blaney managed to salvage a P3 finish in what happened to be his 17th race of the season. Speaking of it, the former Cup Series champion told Kim Coon,

“It was hot. I flipped it on probably lap 15. I was like, ‘Oh, it’s going to be a long day, so... ' Was able to just keep going. Really proud of the whole 12 guys from starting in the back, making good ground. Then me speeding set us back again. Having to come back up there. (Crew chief) Jonathan (Hassler) and the whole 12 team did a good job of kind of figuring out what to do from the start of the race and after my mistake.”

Notably, Ryan Blaney was the highest finishing driver from Team Penske. His teammates, Austin Cindric and Joey Logano, finished the race 10th and 16th, respectively.

“Obviously, I would have liked to have won,” Blaney continued. “I think after having to start in the back, then the mistake I made, I feel like we were recovered really well. Our car was fast enough to do it. Overall I feel we made the most of our day.“

As of today, Ryan Blaney ranks sixth in the championship standings with 503 points to his name. He bagged his maiden win of the season (at Nashville Superspeedway) earlier this month, also securing his playoff qualification.

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"I don’t see anything negative about it"- Ryan Blaney reflects on his upcoming $1 million NASCAR opportunity

NASCAR will host an In-Season Challenge starting next week at Atlanta Motor Speedway (now known as Echopark Speedway), and Ryan Blaney has the opportunity to bag the million-dollar cash prize that comes with it.

The bracket seeding was finalized at Pocono. The tournament will have 32 drivers competing over a five-race stint starting with this year’s Quaker State 400. As things stand, Blaney is 23rd in the seeding.

“I don’t see anything negative about it, at all,” Ryan Blaney explained in a statement. “I can’t say I was too hyper-focused on it at Michigan, and even at Mexico City, I wasn’t crazy hyper-focused on the seeding.”

“Then I saw a chart of the seeding as of right now after Mexico City and I was like, ‘Oh man, I need to get my seeding up.’ Atlanta being the first race, it doesn’t really make a huge difference. I think you’re going to see a lot of upsets at Atlanta just because of the way the track is,” he added.

The race has been scheduled for this coming Saturday, June 28. Fans can watch it live on TNT Sports, 7 pm ET onwards, with radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.